Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

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Originally Posted by Old Wolverine

I often find myself editing films as I watch them at the theatre. I often catch myself saying things like "terrible choice editing", "why", "needed more", needed less" etc.

This movie I actually watched it saying "perfect choices", "perfect editing", "great use of the camera" etc.

Nothing to me was over the top or jarring.

Just loved it.

You'd appreciate this quote from Mangold then:

"[The train sequence] is made up of hundreds of pieces. There's a lot of pieces in that sequence and it requires two types of planning. One of the things that could happen when planning an action sequence for a film, especially when you have resources, is that you can do anything. And the trick when you can do anything is that there's a huge temptation for the filmmaker to start flying the camera through the window of the train and up through the accordion and out the window and up the drainpipe.. and my kind of overriding goal with the actors and the camera and how I was directing the film is to try to make the film feel more real and therefore don't make shots you couldn't make. Don't make shots that [just because] the technology now allows you to. Because you can literally do anything. It almost puts the filmmaker in an odd position because suddenly you can create any frame of any shot. It's almost too many choices. Why does the chase scene in The French Connection with Popeye Doyle in Queens look so good? Because it was a handheld camera running down under the overpass and it was real... I'm in the habit of saying no. Meaning, I'm in the habit of saying give me shot as if I were doing it all absolutely 100% real."

The guy just understands pulpy action, and how to make it viscerally dynamic.

Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Wolverine

It seems none of the good ones are making it to RT.

You'd be surprised how many reviews aren't posted on RT. You have to apply to be an RT critic. A lot of the reviewers were grandfathered in before their strict rules were put in place (the no-name blogs you've never heard of) while many people just don't believe it in and don't bother applying. It's more of a "status" thing than a credibility one at this point.

Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

Bingo. Two of my reviewers had accounts on RT and never used them. I was going to apply last year but just didn't feel like it. It's not that hard to get accredited through them, I just don't want to play the game.

In essence, the Wolverine crosses his adamantium claws with Samurai swords, which makes him appreciate a life that has no end. Though there are many different battles, the greatest battle is the one within Logan, torn between being a monster and becoming a human being. The writers have gone out of their way to construct a world that’s vastly different from those seen before in the X-Men series, and at a large degree they succeed, but more on the visual technical than the narrative or dramatic levels. With the exception of Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, no single superhero has gotten more screen time than Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, so if you like Jackman, you would enjoy this curious movie.

Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

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Surprisingly solid film, although towards the end it got a little too comic book for me, compared to the rest of it. Superbly shot action scenes, dark and violent for a PG-13, with an engaging story, a breath of fresh air. The best filmic representation of the character, so far.

As a fan, I'm happy at what I've read so far about The Wolverine. I can't wait for Friday to find out for myself.

Critics seem to find the film smart and even the ones that have voted thumbs down seem to be saying that it's at least 2/3 of a good character film with a wild ending. That formula works for me.

Reading that it is "the most gripping comic book movie of the year" and that it is "an antithesis to recent overblown blockbusters" makes me think that Mangold nailed it. Everything I've seen and read says this film has done the character justice.

Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

I really feel like there's a lot of wishful thinking here...

I've seen the movie... For everything it does well, it throws a lot of it out the window with a garbage ending. There's a lot of cool character stuff in there but it gets cheapened by a wonky ending and the baggage left over from The Last Stand.

It's a fun film, it's a good Wolverine film.... But considering the fantastic source material, I feel it still falls well short of the mark. Being better than the last Wolverine film shouldn't give it a free pass. The Wolverine Japan story simply wasn't done as well as it could have been.

And all these quotes about it being a refreshingly different comic book movie are blown well out of proportion. While it does have some cool down moments and interesting character development, there is still a lot of arbitrary action.

The middle section of the film is probably the coolest part. I just don't know why they didn't have faith that Yakuza, Ninjas, Wolverine's self doubt and his love of Mariko wasn't enough to carry a story. THAT is what had me engaged... Then they threw it out the window for

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

a freaking robot fight... what the hell was that about?

Also, Mangold's interpretation of Japan was a little stale. I would have liked someone with more of an appreciation for Eastern cinema.

Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

The RT consensus is very good!

But what I noticed about Rotten Tomatoes these days, is they give out the consensus very early. Like they should compile at least 100 reviews first before releasing the consensus especially for a tentpole movie like this.

Re: "Are These All The Reviews You Brought?" -The Official Review Thread

Wishful thinking? How so? It's not a direct adaptation of the comic. If you go into it expecting that you're foolish. They used that story as the thematic setting for a film that still lives within the confines of the X-Men movie-verse. They weren't just going to throw it all away and make a solo outing.

That being said, I feel it had the same issues with the ending that Iron Man 3 did. Sort of a cop-out actiony battle sequence that doesn't jive with the first two acts. But it's clear why they did that (as with IM3) because at the end of the day it's a superhero movie and they needed something in there to wow the kiddies.

I'm critical as hell of comic book movies. I went into this ready willing and able to mock it. And it proved me wrong on almost every level. Opinions differ, but I'd say mine is the general consensus.